Ioannis Michaloutsos

Ioannis Michaloutsos is 16 years old. He is from the 1997 European year class. He is a 6-8½ tall small forward. He was named the MVP of the Under-14, Under-15, and Under-16 leagues in Greece, despite that he played against players a year older than him in those tournaments.

Spanish club Breogan gave him a contract and now he plays with them in the Spanish 2nd division, although just in their practice squad so far.

Anyway, recently it was said that the Greek Euroleague club Panathinaikos was trying to get him.

He is considered to be maybe the top young scoring talent in Greek youth basketball systems. I would compare him some to Greek Euroleague player Stratos Perperoglou (one of the best small forwards in Europe), but I think Michaloutsos is quicker and more explosive.

He is considered to be one of the top young talents in Europe, even among the highly hyped European '97 generation. Scouts from many of the top European clubs are said to be following him closely. He is part of Greece's great '97 generation, along with players like Vasileios Charalampopoulos, Georgios Papagiannis, and Antonis Koniaris.

Ioannis Michaloutsos is enjoying a fine first season in Spain, as the 1997 born prospect led Estudiantes Lugo (the formation team of Breogan) to win the title in Galicia, and qualify to the finals of the Spanish Junior tournament, that shall be held in Marin in mid May. Despite being two years younger than the competition, Michaloutsos showed glimpses of his great talent, and May is going to be very busy for the Under-16 national team international, as he has also led the Cadet (Under-16) team of Estudiantes to the Spanish finals, scheduled to take place in Ferol at the end of May. Michaloutsos won in January, the gold medal with the Greek NT, in the U16 international tournament in Sakarya, and is expected to feature in the European championship in the summer.